The lack of film roles for women over 40 was the topic of much discussion earlier this year when actor Russell Crowebrushed aside the notion that roles dry up for actresses of a certain age. He pinned the problem on women being unwilling to act their age on film and used Meryl Streep as a vaulted example for actresses everywhere. When asked about Crowe’s comments, Streep seemed on board, saying, “I agree with him. It’s good to live within the place that you are.”

But, apparently Streep acknowledges that more could be done for older women in Hollywood because the actress has used her own money to help fund a screenwriting lab for women writers over 40, to be run by New York Women in Film and Television and IRIS, a collective of women filmmakers. This support for her fellow women should come as no surprise given recent Streep events like that enthusiastic response to Patricia Arquette’s Oscar speech or her role as women’s-voting-rights activist Emmeline Pankhurst in the upcoming film Suffragette.

So how will a Streep-funded screenwriting lab for women over 40 combat ageism and sexism in Hollywood? Well, the prevailing school of thought is that improvements for underrepresented groups on camera (women over 40 being just one of many such groups) will only truly change when Hollywood shifts away from the straight, white-male-dominated scene behind the camera. According to a recent study by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, the percentage of women behind the camera is actually declining. Women only represent 7 percent of directors, 11 percent of the writers, and 18 percent of the editors on the biggest moneymaking films over the past 17 years.

It’s no coincidence that the same study found that in 2013, female characters made up just 15 percent of protagonists and 30 percent of all speaking characters in the top 100 grossing movies; female filmmakers tend to make more movies about women than male filmmakers do.

This new Streep-funded Writers Lab aims to give that 11 percent writing number a healthy bump and the program has drafted a few established talents in mentorship roles including writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood (Beyond the Lights), producer Caroline Kaplan (Boyhood), and writers Kirsten Smith (Legally Blonde) and Jessica Bendinger (Bring It On).

Presumably, the Writers Lab participants won’t be restricted to writing female-focused scripts. But it is worth noting how a female perspective can not only potentially offer up more roles for women over 40, but also change the established rules for what a woman-over-40 role looks like on film. Streep may have agreed with Crowe that “it’s good to live within the place that you are,” but at 65 years old, she’s constantly pushing the boundaries of what that “place” is. Take, for example, Streep’s upcoming rocker chick flick Ricki and the Flash, penned by 36-year-old Diablo Cody. Streep reportedly shredded her guitar so hard on camera that she drew blood. That doesn’t sound like your typical 65-year-old role, does it?

This year the Streep-funded Writers Lab will accept submissions May 1–June 1, with eight winning writers named August 1. That’s just in time for winners to celebrate with a screening of Ricki and the Flash which opens on August 7. Get your writing and shredding fingers ready.